


Marooned

by CurlyFirefly



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Disney Animated Fandoms, Disney Princesses, The Little Mermaid (1989)
Genre: Friendship/Love, Gen, Insanity, Minor Original Character(s), Team as Family, semi-au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-13 09:54:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4517451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CurlyFirefly/pseuds/CurlyFirefly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mishap with a spell lands the main players of "The Little Mermaid" nowhere else but modern-day New York City. Now lost and isolated in a strange world, they must work to survive and reunite if they hope to ever return home. Along the way they learn that while familiarity breeds contempt, when it's all you have it may also breed camaraderie. Slight AU. Takes place after TLM.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Backfired

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this is crazy. Yes, this is lame. No, I do not apologize because its a wild ride thats tons of fun to work on.

In the course of life, it's funny to see just how badly things can backfire. Even the best plans, laid by a careful and meticulous hand, can suddenly turn into something it was not meant to be. Such was the case that landed a group of unusual characters in a very unusual place. The blame, it turns out, fell upon one these strange people. A certain Sea Witch hell-bent on revenge to be exact…

It happened on an ordinary day, as most of these things do; a perfectly normal day that would have passed through time and through memory if not for the single peculiarity that took place. There were no royal festivals in Atlantica, no trans-oceanic dignitaries visiting. The palace guards and servants went about their rounds as usual with a casual air. In his royal office sat King Triton, looking over reports on housing in the kingdom. Most everything was in order. In fact it was everything the King could do to keep his eyes open.

Sebastian, in his own chambers, was scribbling on a piece of parchment. He worked at a leisurely place, stopping on occasion to hum a few bars then immediately turn back to the page. He was working on his latest soon-to-be masterpiece. Even now as he worked, inspiration had not struck. The waves above had not opened up in a miraculous epiphany of music. He simply wrote, weighing notes against rhythms and tempos, grateful that his inner ear had not quit on him yet.

Somewhere along the kelp fields lounged Flounder, allowing himself to be rocked by the gentle tide. He sighed in content at the lazy afternoon, watching the sun play wave-like patterns on the sand below with half-lidded eyes. The fish spent many a day like this now that his best friend was on land. And while he missed Ariel dearly, at times he couldn't help but feel relieved that his days exploring dangerous shipwrecks were behind him.

Up, above both sea and land, flew a certain seagull more commonly known as Scuttle. The winds that day were nice, present but not so strong as to blow him about in his flight. Not much had changed for the quirky bird, aside from no longer answering the questions of a certain mermaid pertaining to the human world…

As for the aforementioned princess, Ariel sat on the shore of her new home, barefoot to the let the waves lap over her feet. It had been nearly three years since she had first explored the upper world and still she became joyful at the thought of having legs. Ariel giggled as she watched Eric and his dog Max playing in the foamy wake, and outright laughed when the latter pounced and toppled the former into the water. It had been weeks since they could find the time to play around like this. Normally they would be dealing with their duties around the castle with Grimsby, the ever present adviser on their case about something. If it wasn't the Prince's posture, it was one of Ariel's more persistent quirks. Thinking back on Grim, as Eric liked to call him, she sighed. She honestly liked the man, though she tested his patience on a regular basis.

Eric, now soaked through, sat up and splashed at his mischievous dog. A laugh caught his ear and he turned towards the red head on the shore. He smirked and called to her, "Think that's funny, do you?"

As he stumbled closer to shore, the Prince's foot landed on a particularly slick stone imbedded in the sand. He toppled over once more just as a wave came crashing down. Ariel's laughs doubled as he stood and attempted to wipe the salt water from his eyes. Eric sputtered and made the rest of his way to the amused girl. Without a word, he bent over and scooped her up bridal style.

"Eric!" she protested and kicked, the mirth not having left her voice just yet, "Put me down!"

Eric half smirked and said, "As you wish," then dropped her into the shallows. She landed with a short squeal and a splash. Now it was Eric's turn to laugh. The former mermaid sat up and coughed, "You are supposed to be a gentleman," she took on Grimsby's accent, "and proper gentlemen don't go throwing their wives into the ocean."

Eric calmed, "Well you of all people should know that I'm more a sailor than a 'proper gentleman'." Ariel attempted to stand. When she couldn't quite get her bearings, the prince grabbed her hand and helped to stabilize her.

Once her balance was regained she looked up at Eric… and tackling him into the surf. Before he could react, she smiled and said, "And you of all people should know I'm more a mermaid than a proper lady."

Just like that, the two were on another round of splashes and laughter with Max barking and romping about them. There was no happier couple than the two that played in the surf of that secluded little cove. They carried on, glad to be away from the world and watchful eyes of Grimsby. How were they to know that someone was indeed watching?

Somewhere in the gloomiest depths of the ocean three pairs of eyes watched the two humans and the furry creature through the means of a magical bubble. After a moment, an evil grin painted itself on the face of the middle figure.

"Yes, enjoy yourself princess while you can, princess," the speaker was none other than the sea witch, Ursula. With one last glance at the couple, she waved her hand and the image in the bubble changed. Now Sebastian appeared still scribbling at his sheet music. Again the image switched to that of Flounder, then to Scuttle, then once more to King Triton. Ursula glowered at the image of her archenemy. It was because of him, because of all of them, that she had been forced into hiding for the last few years. But she was a patient witch and put her time to good use. Her first order of business, once she had regained some strength, had been to bring back her only companions, Flotsam and Jetsam. Once that was accomplished, she set to work on her current scheme.

For months she waited, gathering supplies and biding her time until this moment. With a final glare at the King, she dissolved the bubble and opened her cauldron all the way. In it was a potion that had been brewing for six long weeks, and on that very day it was ready. The witch looked over at the two eels, "The time has arrived. Fetch me the final ingredients, with caution my pets."

"Yesss, Ursula," Flotsam replied and he and his twin swam off to retrieve what their mistress had requested.

The last components were kept locked away in a special compartment so as not to become contaminated. They were both the most crucial to the spell and the most difficult to acquire, which only led to their value. Unfortunately for the eels, they were kept sealed in a chest with a lock fashioned out of a shark's tooth. After a small struggle with the lock and lid, they managed to open the chest just enough to reach inside. There lay six bags at the bottom of the chest, each filled with one small object. Three held nothing more than a single strand of hair each, one red, one black, and one white. Another held a discarded crab's shell shed long ago. The fifth held a white feather and the last contained a single yellow scale.

Once opened, the eels each scooped up the bags and turned to swim back to the witch. They weren't able to swim an inch, however, before the heavy lid tipped forward and closed on both of their tails. Flotsam and Jetsam hissed in pain and dropped the bags in the process. Having heard the disturbance, the Sea Witch turned towards the injured henchmen.

"Quickly, you fools," she hissed but all the same used a tentacle to lift the lid. The henchmen slid forward and reclaimed the fallen ingredients, ignoring the slight stinging in their tails.

Upon arriving at the cauldron, they passed the small bags to Ursula, who proceeded to toss them in without a second glance.

In her haste, the Sea Witch failed to catch three rather minor, yet rather important details. Had she realized what she had just done, the events that followed would not have taken place. Perhaps she would have halted the spell if she saw the tiny speck of blood that stained the very corner of two of the bags. Maybe, if she had taken a second look, she would have seen the strand of gray hair that clung to the edge of yet another. These mistakes however, went unobserved by the anxious witch and her eels. And so, after a chant that caused the cauldron to glow and the waving of hands, the spell was cast. A mighty current swept through the lair, spinning faster with each passing moment. Ursula stared at her work with a malicious glimmer in her eye. She began to cackle, so sure that at last she would exact her revenge. The spell's effects began to intensify to a troubling level. The witch didn't notice in her state of blinding euphoria. It continued to build until most of the lair was barely visible and the eels had to swim a bit to the side in order remain stationary. While their mistress didn't realize it, it soon became obvious to them that something wasn't quite right.

In fact, something was very, very wrong.

A moment later, their suspicions were proven correct as all three in the room fell unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for checking out my fic! Comments and Kudos are appreciated as is any and all constructive criticism.


	2. Wake Up Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroes are met with various surprises.

The darkness swirled around him in a mixture of odd feelings. He felt like one of the many boulders resting on the ocean floor; heavy and compressed by the tons of water surrounding it. Then, the darkness somehow became less dark. All at once he felt as if he were floating and sinking further into himself. He tried to stir, only to find that his body was not responding. The darkness became brighter still. At last the mysterious lightening stopped and he was drawn up to full awareness.

He scrunched his eyes against the bright, only to find that they were closed. With great effort, he peeled his eyelids apart. After blinking a few times the face of his best friend came into focus.

“H-hey,” Flounder said. 

Ariel heaved a sigh and offered him a tentative smile, “Oh, Flounder. It’s you.” She eyed him for a moment, then turned and yelled, “He’s awake!” 

Before anyone could answer, her attention was back on Flounder, “Are you ok?”

“Uh… yeah,” the little fish blinked. In the distance he heard a shuffle, “What are you doing in Atlantica?” 

Ariel’s eyes dimmed a little at the question. “We-“

The arrival of a dark skinned man cut the princess off. He came up from behind Ariel at a brisk pace, his face a mask of worry. Though he was moving quickly, his legs were not quite steady which caused him to stumble next to the red head rather than crouch. Flounder had never seen the likes of this human before. When the man spoke, however, he found that he was more than familiar with his voice.

“Who is it, child?” Sebastian’s thick accent tumbled out of the stranger’s mouth. Flounder’s eyes doubled in size. What was Sebastian doing as a human? He was so preoccupied with his friend’s condition that he didn’t quite register what the former crab was saying.

“It’s Flounder,” Ariel explained. 

“Him, too?” Sebastian’s hand made contact with his forehead, “Oh, man!”

“Se-Sebastian?” Flounder’s voice broke.

Ariel and the man exchanged a pained look, “Yes, it’s him.”

Why are you human? He wanted to ask, but the words refused to come. 

Sebastian heaved a sigh, “Alright. Let’s get ya up. Ariel, help me get him to his feet.”

Feet?

His feet?

In a motion that was faster than Flounder thought possible, he snapped his head down and came to a couple of very sudden and very dismaying realizations: the first was that he had a head to snap. The second, which was really an extension of the first, was that he, like Sebastian, had inexplicably and unexpectedly become human. His face flushed (such an odd feeling for a fish), and his eyes managed to grow three times their size. At the sight of his legs and the strange material that covered them Flounder didn’t know whether to scream or gasp. The result was a short, strangled whine, followed by a look aimed at Ariel that made her insides feel as though she’d just swallowed a sea urchin.

“We have to get you to daddy,” Ariel said, “He’ll want to know that you’re… safe.”

“The King?” Flounder managed to sit up. Were they near the shore? For the first time, he got a good glimpse at their surroundings. They were in a cave of some sort. A big cave with a hard floor and walls covered in glossy, white squares; black crusted lines between them made it clear that the place wasn’t clean. The ceiling, he noticed, had strips of harsh, glowing light. An unfamiliar type of algae, perhaps? Whatever it was, Flounder had the inkling that they were far from the ocean, which could only mean… 

“He’s human, too.” It came out as a statement. 

Neither Ariel nor Sebastian bothered to confirm what he already knew. 

“Come on.” Sebastian said and the two lifted Flounder to his feet.

After a few close calls and a long battle against gravity, Flounder was able to stand.

“There,” Ariel said. She kept one hand braced between his shoulders for extra support, “Do you want to try walking?”

They began with small steps, each one a bit steadier than the last. Flounder clung to Sebastian and Ariel at first, but by the time they traveled a few yards or so, he found that he held them more for comfort than necessity. It was something about lifting one leg into the empty space while balancing on the other that scared him most. That tiny sensation of falling that didn’t exist in the ocean posed a very real threat to him, but once the sole of one foot made contact with the ground it became easier to lift the other. Before long, he had settled into a rhythm. All the while Sebastian and Ariel encouraged him until he had learned to work with gravity.

It was in the midst of their walking lesson that a shriek echoed through the cave. The trio froze. Each of their eyes widened at the sound. Just as they turned to each other, another man came round the corner. 

Flounder gasped and leaned back. Ariel only placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Ariel!” Flounder was only mildly surprised to hear Scuttle’s voice come out of the stranger’s mouth, “Si-Sa-Su Cecil!”

“Sebastian,” the former crab frowned.

“Right,” Scuttle said, though he didn’t take note of the correction, “Ya gotta come quick!” He took hold of the girl’s free arm and gave it a tug.

“What happened?” she asked. They began walking again, each step faster than the last until they were practically jogging.

“Somethin’ bad,” Scuttle said. Ariel stopped for a moment, trying to figure out what could possibly be worse than- 

“C’mon!” Scuttle’s cry brought her back to earth, “we got an emergency here!”

This time she gave Flounder a quick glance, then broke into a run. The little fish tried his best to keep up with the others, but his feet fumbled over each other. Still, he managed to avoid taking any major spills.

Scuttle, Ariel, Sebastian, and Flounder rounded the corner and ran until they came to a chamber. On one side was a black metal gate with openings and metal contraptions. Farther up was a strange formation of stone than led up to an opening in the ceiling, on their left was a giant pit that disappeared down a dark tunnel. Strange as this place was, nothing could have prepared them for the sight that met them when they turned the corner.  
It seemed to Flounder that they had burst in on a rather delicate situation. 

There were five figures, two standing as if they were bracing themselves for a fight, one sitting up against the gate spewing whatever curse came to mind, and two sprawled over each other, rubbing their heads trying to figure out what happened. King Triton and Prince Eric, the two standing, where fighting to keep cool. At the sound of the four’s entrance Eric shot them a look and raised an arm. The King, however, didn’t dare take his eyes off the remaining three.

“Damn it to the trenches!” the Sea Witch didn’t notice the others. 

Flounder wasn’t sure what to think. Wasn’t Ursula supposed to be dead? Did this mean they were dead? He turned to Ariel for guidance only to find the girl was struggling to keep calm. He took one of her hands in his. Whether it was to support Ariel or to settle his own nerves, even he didn’t know. 

Ursula caught sight of her humanized henchmen and cursed again, “That blasted potion!”   
“Potion?” Eric shot King Triton a look, but the monarch was too lost in his thoughts to return it. Ursula, however, looked up at the sound of Eric’s voice.

Meanwhile, the King was moving past his shock, choosing to focus instead on his newfound anger.   
“You!” It was a mere whisper, but it contained every drop of contempt King Triton held for the witch, “You did this!”

“But…But how?” Sebastian couldn’t hold it in anymore, “She’s supposed to be dead!”

Ursula stood glared at Sebastian, “Oh, there are many things that were supposed to happen, and I assure you this was not one of them.”

Flounder felt his best friend tense. There was very little that scared Ariel, so for him to see her so distressed did little to soothe his own fear.

The King’s anger tripled. In one motion, he stepped forward and slammed Ursula against the black gate, “Explain yourself, witch!”

The two figures still on the floor, Flotsam and Jetsam, growled in protest, but were unable to anything more than sit up. 

“Don’t treat me like one of your subjects! I’ve been banished remember?” the Sea Witch snapped, then placed a hand on her chest in mock sorrow. When the King’s grip hardened she continued, “As for our current circumstance, there was a mishap with a potion.”

“A potion? What sort of potion?” Eric, who was still adjusting to the idea of magic, didn’t like the way she had referenced the potion. It was almost as though the word left a bad taste in her mouth.

Flounder tried to swallow his fear, but it bubbled up again in a matter of seconds. He had always been wary of magic, especially magic that didn’t come from the King.

“Is there any way to reverse this?” King Triton demanded.

Ursula shot the King a look, “You and I both know it is not as simple as that.”

The King searched the Witch a moment for any signs of deception. He knew what she had said was the truth. Ursula had been too angry at whatever it was that happened to bother spinning any lies. Still, there was something that the Sea Witch was not telling them. With a sigh he let go of her. He would pursue the matter later. At that moment, there were more important things to worry about.

“Alright,” he turned to address everyone, “the first thing we need to do is finish searching the area. We cannot afford to leave anyone behind.”

“We’ve looked everywhere,” Ariel said, “Flounder was the last one.”

The King nodded, then with narrowed eyes asked the witch, “Are we correct in assuming there are no other Atlanticans present?”

Ursula, who was now kneeling beside her two henchmen, rolled her eyes, “Yes, yes, you needn’t worry about anyone else.”

Taking the Sea Witch at her word was not something the King thought wise. However, he knew from many past experiences that Ursula was candid in her anger which meant he could rest assured that she was telling the truth. 

“Maybe we should focus on finding out where we are,” Eric said, “As far as I can tell we might be in one of the farther regions of my kingdom. If that’s the case, it should be simple enough to find passage to the castle and figure out where to go from there.”

“Good thinking,” King Triton clapped his son in law on the shoulder.

Neither one of the royals noticed the wicked grins that had painted themselves on Ursula’s and the eel’s faces, but they did not escape Flounder’s attention. The little fish was just about to say something, when a faint rumbling distracted him.

“What’s that noise?” he asked Ariel. 

The girl wasn’t sure what her friend was talking about until she heard the sound not a second later. Ariel looked around for the source but found nothing. 

“I don’t know,” she said, “but it’s getting louder.”

By then, everyone was focused on the growing noise. A moment later there came a metallic screech that made the hairs on Flounder’s neck stand, followed by the arrival of a silver tube barreling through the pit. All nine figures watched in varying degrees of curiosity and fear, as the terrible thing travelled before them. With all the screeching and rumbling the thing was making, Flounder was convinced that it must of have been some kind of beast. An odd sort of land shark, or maybe a kraken. At the thought of the thing being alive, Flounder felt his heart begin to pound. Thoughts of what the creature could be and why it was making such an awful noise raced through his head. By the time the metal creature disappeared down a dark tunnel, the poor fish had been sent into a panic. Only one thought was able to make itself clear: he couldn’t stay there.

Without a second thought, Flounder bolted over to the strange formation and climbed it as fast as his legs would allow, clinging all the while to a black rail that ran down the center. So shaken was he that he didn’t hear Ariel call after him. All he could focus on was getting as far away from that beast as possible. And he did. Before he knew it, his foot tripped over the final step and he landed hard on the ground in front of him. Panting, he pulled himself to his feet, using the edge of the railing for support. Once steady, he lifted his head…  
And received the shock of his life.

Behind him, Flounder was vaguely aware of the pounding of multiple footsteps and the sound of his name. The pounding of the footsteps died down as Ariel and Sebastian stopped short just behind him.

“Jumpin’ Jellyfish!”

Flounder jumped at Sebastian’s voice, but otherwise didn’t move. His friends behind him were just as stunned by the bustling room before them, as were the other six Atlanticans just seconds later. For a moment, all nine of them just stood and stared out at one of the biggest rooms they had ever seen. Giant blue pillars stretched to the ceiling and were surrounded by rings of light. More formations led up to another floor at the far side of the room, which was bordered by glowing shops and signs bigger than any of them had ever seen. 

Ariel was the first to recover from her shock. Flounder heard, though he couldn’t find it in him to turn from the alien sight of his surroundings, as she leaned towards Eric and said, “I don’t think we’ll be reaching your kingdom anytime soon.”


	3. A moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a series of events begins.

A moment. 

            Our nine Atlanticans found their new surroundings quite shocking to say the least, as you would if you found yourself in similar circumstances. As a result they elected to group up in a corner and attempt to make sense of where, exactly, they were.

            The discussion was led by the two parties that held the most power, King Triton and Ursula. Needless to say what began as a discussion turned into a heated argument fast. In the end, Sebastian took up arms in defense of the King, Eric tried to get both sides to see reason, and the remaining members of the party were ignored.

            At first they watched with varying degrees of interest. It wasn’t long, though, before they grew bored.  Scuttle wandered over to a stand that smelled of food. Flounder decided to turn his attention to his new hands and feet. Ariel leaned against the wall and fell into her favorite pass time: people watching. The humans in this place, where ever it was, were among the strangest she had ever seen. Some carried giant pieces of luggage, some had hair in colors Ariel had never seen on a human, and most were infatuated with little flat boxes that glowed in their hands. One man in particular held his box to his ear. He charged forward, looked neither right nor left, and spoke to an invisible person. Ariel wondered if he was ill.

             Shortly after the odd man Ariel caught a glimpse of what the final two ignored atlanticans had turned their attention to. What she saw made her heart speed up.

            The witch’s henchmen were standing a ways off near a bench. Now on this bench sat a woman who was absorbed in a glossy pamphlet Ariel figured was some sort of news paper. Beside her was a large bag slumped open. Ariel’s eyes widened as she watched the henchmen glance at the bag, share a smirk, and move in.

           She couldn’t let this happen.

            Ariel was across the room in seconds, with Flounder on her heels and telling her to let it be. She reached the henchmen the second one of them picked up the bag.

With nothing more than a glare, she snatched the bag away.

          “What are you doing?” she hissed.

          The sound of Ariel’s voice caught the woman’s attention. She looked up and caught Ariel, Flounder, and the henchmen arguing over her bag.

“That’s my purse!”

            Ariel tried to explain. She really did. But even she had to admit that the woman had caught her in a rather incriminating position. Next thing she knew, a guard was wondering over to them. She placed the bag back onto the bench and was going to stay and explain, but the others had a different idea.

               Ariel was grabbed by the arm and pulled down a winding corridor. The last thing she saw were Eric and her father calling after her.


	4. Penn Station Split

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which backs are stabbed and people lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * There are no deaths.

Ariel knew that in the course of three years she had been in more strange situations than most people are in their entire lives—and that was only counting the last three years, mind you. At that moment, however, she knew in the depths of her soul that she had never been in any situation quite as strange as the one in which she found herself on that day. Oh, some had come close. Shark chases, pulling a man from an exploding ship in the middle of a hurricane, the time she climbed the side of a ship to reach a wedding her friend had helped to sabotage. But as sure as anemones stung, this was by far her weirdest adventure yet.

Funnily enough the realization came as she sat behind a stranger’s luggage. Or rather hid. Hid behind a stranger’s luggage. Across the way, she could make out the corner of Flounder’s shirt from where he stood behind a group of people wearing matching yellow clothes, and speaking in a strange language Ariel had never heard. Her heart seemed to pound in time to the running footsteps that came closer by the second. She didn’t dare lose sight of her friend until the last possible moment. Her pursuers broke through the crowd and, praying that Flounder had enough sense to turn away, crouched down until she was completely hidden under the massive black suitcase. She didn’t dare move from her cramped position until the footsteps had been silent for some time. Just as her neck was beginning to ache, she peeked over the top of the suitcase. Flounder was still mixed in with the yellow-clad group, though he scanned the corridor for Ariel. With a final glance in the direction the guards had run, Ariel stood up, stretched, and made her way over to her young friend. He met her halfway and together they both huddled by a thick column set by a wall of frosted glass bricks.

“Are you ok?” she asked Flounder.

He nodded, though his eyes were still shifting from side to side, “Yeah, no problem. I’m ok.”

No sooner had the two finished and taken a breath that they were both seized from behind.

Ariel would have screamed had it not been for the hand covering her mouth. She tried to wrestle off the grip that had her around the arms, but her captor was too strong. Beside her, Flounder was doing the same as they were pulled further behind the column. Ariel spun hard in a last attempt to fight off the grip and found that she had been released. She whirled on their captors, prepared to wrench Flounder out of the clutches of whoever had taken them. The second she caught sight of mismatched eyes and two lanky forms she glared.

“You!”

The eel, Ariel wasn’t sure which nor did she care, glared back, “You’re welcome.”

Ariel’s blood simmered under her skin. ‘You’re welcome’? Did he really have the audacity to demand gratitude for dragging them into this? “You’re the reason we’re being chased in the first place!”

This time it was his twin that answered, “That’s not how we recall it, _princess,_ ” He shoved Flounder forward so hard the poor fish lost his footing. He would have fallen if Ariel had not caught him round the shoulders. She spared a moment to look Flounder over. He didn’t seem hurt, just a little rattled if his wide eyes were anything to go by. Other than that, she was sure he was fine, or would be soon enough. That established, she resumed glaring at… their names. What were their names again? Oh who cared, that was the least of her worries.

“I’m not the one who stole!” she spat at them.

“We’re not the ones,” one began, the one that had taken Flounder.

“Who got us caught.” Finished the other.

Ariel scoffed, “You wouldn’t have been caught if you hadn’t tried anything!” Flounder tugged on her sleeve. She ignored him.

“No,” the one directly in front of her narrowed his eyes, “ _Your_ interference is to blame.”

“I wasn’t going to let-“

“Um, Ariel?” Flounder’s voice broke her train of thought. She turned to her friend and found that his skin had grown white. The lack of color in his cheeks drained her of her own. Her brow furrowed in concern and she leaned in closer, her anger and the eels forgotten.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Flounder merely pointed behind her. As one, Ariel and the henchmen turned to what Flounder had indicated. The sight made a cold spike shoot into Ariel’s stomach. There was a guard stationed against the column. Only his arm and sleeve were visible around the curve of the pillar. His back was to them. She breathed out. The realization calmed her a little, until she heard a voice speak over the black box clipped to the guard’s sleeve.

“We have a BOLO for four suspects in an attempted robbery. A female about 5’3”, red hair, purple shirt, dark pants; young man, 5 foot, blue and yellow shirt, shorts; and two identical men, 5’9”, dark hair and clothing, different colored eyes. Over.”

The guard in front of them turned his head towards the box. Ariel shrank back. His other hand came up and pressed the box until it made a little sound. “Copy,” he said into it, then went back to his previous position, his head turning slowly as he scanned the crowd.

They were still after them, Ariel realized. Even worse, the guard got his instructions from some form of magic. If one guard could communicate with another without being near the other, how fast would this information spread? What if they had already contacted every other guard in this place? How far could they hope to get? Right then, Ariel wished more than anything for Eric, her father and the others to be with them. Unfortunately, they hadn’t seen the rest of the Atlanticans since the guards chased them off in the first place. Ariel had no idea where she was now, let alone where they had left the others.

She turned back to Flounder and the eels.

“We need to get out of here,” she mouthed. For once, all four found themselves agreeing with each other. Had it been any other moment, Ariel would have been unnerved at the thought of agreeing with anyone that associated with the Sea Witch, but circumstances being what they were she found that she couldn’t care less.

The henchmen exchanged a look, then peeked around the column. Ariel drew Flounder closer and glanced back at the guard. He was still unaware that they were behind him. If they were careful… A quick hiss caught her attention. The henchmen beckoned her and Flounder closer. After a second’s hesitation and a wicked sense of dejavu, Ariel leaned forward. The one directly in front of Ariel pegged her with a stare that oozed vitality. Whatever was about to happen, she thought, would be invaluable to their escape. She waited for him to say something.

He didn’t. Instead, he brought his arms up and shoved her and Flounder to the ground. She hit the linoleum hard and cried out from the shock. The guard spun around at the sound of the impact.

“Hey!”

Ariel caught up to reality in time to grab Flounder and bolt just before the guard could catch them. The eels were long gone, but she could see them slipping through the crowd. Fuelled by anger and adrenaline, she ran after them. The guard gave chase, talking into the box on his shoulder all the while.

Those evil little vipers! She couldn’t believe they were so low as to double cross a fellow fugitive. They understood “the enemy of my enemy”, right? Ariel couldn’t help but scoff. Of course they didn’t. That would require morals, and it was clear they wouldn’t know what morals are if it bit them in the-

The yellow shirted group from earlier appeared before her. She pulled Flounder closer and shoved her way through them, ignoring their protests. Once she was clear, she peeked back and breathed a little easier when she saw the guard was struggling to catch up.

Maybe they’d get out of this after all.

She kept running, determined now to catch the traitorous henchmen. They were just ahead, still weaving around people and completely unaware of the angry red head that was pursued them.

“Can you slow down?” Flounder asked, “I-I can’t keep up!”

“We have to keep moving,” She answered. If Flounder could outswim a shark, she figured, he could outrun an overweight guard.

A glimpse of the eels turning left stoked the anger in Ariel. She moved even faster. Poor Flounder was stumbling over his new feet; she could feel him dip closer to the ground every so often. Still she charged on until the henchmen were an arm’s length away. Ariel shoved past a startled girl and grabbed a handful of the nearest henchman’s shirt. He tugged against her grip but she refused to let him go until, at last, her turned and wrenched the fabric out of Ariel’s fist. He stopped dead when he realized it was Ariel. His twin, as if sensing something, whirled around too.

There was a millisecond of victory for Ariel when she saw a flash of surprise cross their faces, which was followed by a sight that made her heart jump.

Just ahead she saw two guards heading for them. She did an about face only to find the guard from earlier gaining as well. She searched around for an escape but was only met with walls and people until… was that an opening? She did a double take to her right and almost cried.

Without a thought she grabbed Flounder once more and sprinted. She was vaguely aware of the eels following suit. Whatever, she thought. They weren’t important. All she cared about was herself and Flounder. They cut through the opening into another passageway. Black signs and pictures on the wall flew by as all four ducked here and there. Ariel looked back at the guards and nearly tumbled down a flight of stairs. She froze only long enough to regain balance, and then took the staircase two steps at a time. It was all she could do to keep Flounder from taking a dive. They reached the bottom and were met with a devastating sight.

A fence stood in their way, which blocked them from a passage that reminded Ariel of the cave where they saw the monster.  

They were trapped.

Or maybe not.

Ariel watched as the people around them pushed through bars in the openings of the silver metal fence. She sped forward and tried one. It was jammed. The others tried their luck but the silver bars held firm. When the fence didn’t let them through, Flounder, Flotsam and Jetsam elected to look to her.

“What now?” Flounder said.

There were people giving her dirty looks in the crowd. What were they doing wrong? The sound of footsteps running down the stairs sent Ariel through the threshold of fear and straight into a panic. She examined the opening. The bar wouldn’t let her walk through, but it wasn’t high enough to keep her from jumping. A new sense of determination blossomed in her and cemented itself in her chest. Ariel took a few steps back and leapt forward. She cleared the bar. The others wasted no time in following her example. She turned back long enough to help Flounder, which was all it took for the guards to reach the bottom of the stairs.

Ariel didn’t dare breathe a sigh of relief. Something told her the guards would know how to make the bars move.

“Come on!” She called as the familiar rumble of the metal monster filled the passage.

Her own blood turned to ice at the sound, but she couldn’t afford to turn back. None of them could.

Ariel pushed Flounder forward, “Run!”

He did as he was told. Ariel went after him and the henchmen brought up the rear.

The metal monster was slowing down, she noticed, and as it did people moved towards it. Ariel couldn’t help but glance over at the monster and realized it wasn’t a monster at all. Doors along its side that she hadn’t seen before slid open, allowing people to file in. Ariel’s eyes lit up in recognition. It was like a carriage! She peeked into the compartment. It was absolutely packed with people all huddled together to make room. Between legs, arms, and handbags Ariel caught a glimpse of the platform on other side. An idea struck.

“Through here,” She ran into the carriage.

The henchmen followed after her; Flounder, on the other hand...

What happened next, Ariel would remember in the following manner:

A tight squeeze.

Irritated strangers.

A push and a fall into empty space.

“Ariel!”

Ariel turned in time to see the doors of the carriage slide shut in the panicked face of her best friend. Beside him stood one of the henchmen, equally frightened, and staring out at his brother. Ariel took a step forward, but to her horror, the carriage jolted and sped its way down the passage and into a tunnel. She wanted to go after it- she _would have_ gone after it- but a tug on her arm and the sight of the guards on the opposite platform stopped her.

Instead she held back her tears and faced the remaining henchman. They ran.


End file.
